That Drop of Nostalgia
by Kandice
Summary: All Draco had hoped for was a calm day where he read a book, ate some ice cream, and indulged in some memories. No matter how hard you try, though, no day can be called uneventful when Lucius Malfoy is involved.


**That Drop of Nostalgia**

**Summary:** All Draco had hoped for was a calm day where he read a book, ate some ice cream, and indulged in some memories. No matter how hard you try, though, no day can be called uneventful when Lucius Malfoy is involved.

**Author's Note:** Just some mindless piece of fiction I came up with. I've been having major writer's block ever since the junior paper was assigned in English. That's due this week, though, and I had to let some of these plot bunnies go before they started to bite.

* * *

Draco Malfoy sat in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor calmly. He had a chocolate and raspberry sundae with chopped nuts in front of him, and a book lying flat on the table. To anyone passing by, they saw the blonde immersed in the book, subconsciously sneaking a spoonful of the ice cream into his mouth every few minutes, and thought nothing of it. It wasn't, after all, unusual for someone to read and eat at the same time. No particularly great feat, a five-year-old could do it, taking into account that they had to actually be able to read to qualify.

That's beside the point, though. The eighteen-year-old, although reading as everyone could have guessed, was not so deeply absorbed that he did not realize what was going around him. After all, he had been sent here for the explicit purpose of taking in the surroundings and events. Even if that wasn't enough reason for him to do so, he was being paid for this and he really wasn't in the mood to lose his job. Not that he needed a job, really. The Malfoys didn't _need_ to work- ever, Their ancestors had taken care of that for them. The only reason why each generation still took work was simply so that they had something to occupy their time with. Something that would keep them from killing themselves due to excessive boredom. This tactic, it seemed, worked quite well as no Malfoy had committed suicide since A.D. 320. (It is believed that due to his father's 'incident' Icarius Malfoy brought it upon himself to never have his future generations do such a thing, therefore spent the next decade locked up in his study, writing the first copy of the _Malfoy Code of Conduct_.)

He had left Hogwarts tying Hermione Granger for most N.E.W.T.s. There had been a simple ceremony. Surprisingly enough, Lucius and Narcissa had attended. Of course, most of the staff was wary of Lucius Malfoy, so they had kept looking at him as if he was going to jump out of his seat and announce that he was in fact Voldemort, himself. Dumbledore was suspicious. Especially because his former student had somehow managed to get freed from Azkaban not a whole month after getting sent there two years previous. What was even more interesting was that he had been cleared of all charges against him by the Minister of Magic. Had anyone cared enough to check deeper into this, they would have possibly found that the day before he cleared Malfoy, his Gringotts account had accepted about twenty thousand galleons seemingly out of nowhere.

Society had easily accepted Lucius back and claimed that it was their own fault. People could be so blind sometimes. Not long after that the Malfoys had publicly renounced the Dark Lord. The _Daily Prophet_ ran the story for a full week before other news showed up. Everyone had assumed that after renouncing any affiliation with the Dark Lord, Lucius Malfoy would go to Dumbledore and join the light side. No such thing happened, which raised many eyebrows. So the question of who's side the Malfoys were on was debatable. Most people chose to believe that they were secretly against Voldemort, but didn't say anything to further endanger themselves. Others chose to say that the family was still involved in Dark Magics and were simply keeping up their images to the public. Both had been correct. The Malfoys, in fact, had taken up the title of Switzerland amongst the wizarding community. Lucius believed in the same things as Lord Voldemort did, and he was still involved in Dark Magics. However, Malfoys were supposed to remain neutral (according to the _Code_. It also states clearly in section 6, article iii. that Malfoys should be on the winning side.) And so neutral is what they would remain. They would remain in one of their various Manors when the war came and make sure to break no nail or get a split end.

Of course, when the war _did_ come, they were not at one of their Estates. Instead they were all at Hogwarts at the traditional ceremony held for the seventh years. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore had been in the middle of a particularly humourous speech about his own seventh year and the time he had been bitten by a doxy- and suddenly close to four dozen death eaters appeared around them. They had used portkeys. Rather clever idea, really. Surprised quite a few people that they hadn't thought of it. After all, just because you could not apparate or disapparate on Hogwarts grounds did not mean you could not portkey there.

So it had begun. The Death Eaters had finally struck at Hogwarts. All the students were inside the castle, apart from the seventh years, but the seventh year were prepared. The DA had continued through sixth and seventh year with much of the school taking part in it. By much of the school, this meant just about everyone except for the Slytherins.

The students, staff and parents flew into battle. Draco, who was part of the Switzerland clan, first managed to mentally curse the Death Eaters for choosing the ceremony as the time to attack. Idiots. Screwing with his graduation. A minute later he cursed under his breath again as he realized that Lucius had crossed over the border between Switzerland and France. At that moment, he almost smacked himself for all his geographical similes. Lucius was looking as cool as ever, shooting curses. The curses were at the Death Eaters though. Without much more thought Draco joined in the chaos.

For over an hour curses flew through the air. Some reached their intended target, others did not.

For over an hour there was screaming and yelling- and then it stopped. A red light appeared in the sky, and then disappeared with a bright flash. The few Death Eaters that remained suddenly looked at each other and tried to find their port key within their pockets. Five of them had decided to run towards the Forest and apparate. One was shot down with a curse, but four disappeared and the seven that had been scrambling to get to a portkey also quickly fell to the ground. In the middle of it all stood Harry Potter looking victorious. Only a dozen people still stood. Most of them were frozen on the spot, the shock of what had just happened getting to them at that moment, or simply horrified at the bodies before them. A fearsome-looking Dumbledore walked over to Harry, and looked down at the body of Lord Voldemort. The most feared wizard in history lay with a knife through his chest, and his snapped wand next to him. Others started moving finally when Dumbledore took a deep breath and nodded at Harry. Voldemort had been defeated.

Draco didn't notice any of this though. He didn't notice the people that had snapped out of their daze. He didn't notice that Dumbledore now seemed to be talking to him. The blonde haired boy took a few steps back from the headmaster and looked around. He searched for the hair color that matched his own.

"Excuse me, Professor," he managed to say, before walking away to where he thought he saw some blonde. Walking swiftly, he ignored everything else until he flew down next to Lucius. He opened his mouth to say something when suddenly his father made a sound that clearly meant he was annoyed and his hand moved to his head.

"Father...?" Draco asked uncertainly. Sure, the man could be a complete bastard at times and more than a few times over the years they had had disagreements that lasted anywhere from three hours to a whole school term, but he was his father.

"Draco, get off, I can't stand up if you're leaning over me." Lucius muttered, and pushed himself off the ground, holding one hand to his head and fixing any hairs out of place with the other. "Where's Narcissa. That bloody woman thought it was necessary to hit me over the head with a _chair_ when I attempted to curse Bellatrix."

Draco managed to keep a straight face at the image of his mother smacking Lucius with one of the chairs, all of which were lying scattered. He found his mother lying on the ground not too far away and cautiously walked around the people he didn't know to her.

"Narcissa." Lucius knelt down next to her looking for a pulse. He looked up at his son with an annoyed look. "If she hadn't hit me with that chair...don't worry, Draco. She's alive."

Draco nodded and let out a soft sigh of relief, as he stood up and looked around. He walked over to where Dumbledore was talking with a few people. "...four of them escaped."

Those four, Draco had quickly realized, were Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange along with Antonin Dolohov. The others were all dead. They had been mostly _stupified_ that day, and then put on trial, then received the Dementor's Kiss. Harry Potter had been given an Order of Merlin, First Class, along with everyone else that had fought. Much celebration had then occurred

"Draco," a voice greeted formally as the chair across from his moved.

Draco blinked and looked up into his father's eyes, stopping his past reflections for the moment, "Father."

Lucius had an eyebrow arched in an inquisitive manner. "Really, Draco, skipping work and then sitting out in the open will not keep your job. Not even if your name is Malfoy. If you had at least looked convincing with that book in front of you..."

"What are you talking about?" asked the younger wizard in an exasperated tone.

His father's eyes narrowed slightly. "I was simply asking my son why he wasn't at work. No need to use that tone."

"I apologize, father." Draco closed his book and stabbed his ice cream. "You startled me. I _am_ working."

"Really? How interesting. Are you Florean Fortescue's new taste tester?" Lucius asked silkily, eying the ice cream with contempt. "Because I do believe that is an occupation no Malfoy has ever held."

"I'm sure to laugh any minute, Dad." Draco tilted his head slightly. "Be careful. You can't be seen in public making _jokes_ with your son."

"That wasn't a joke. It was heavy sarcasm."

Draco picked up his ice cream and offered some to Lucius, who looked like he might smile at the offer, but declined. The boy shrugged. More for him. "No, apparently they want to make sure that Diagon Alley is safe. So all I have to do is sit around and in case I see commotion I have to run over and figure out what's going on...then stop it. Not the hardest of tasks I've been given, but there really isn't much to do in my Department lately."

"I told you not to go into Magical Law Enforcement, Draco." Lucius reminded him, looking smug.

"What are you doing here, father? You have a job, too."

"I am aware that I have an occupation. I simply took the rest of the day off to visit Narcissa." Lucius studied his son as he looked away from him. "I notice you haven't visited your mother lately."

"I've been rather busy."

Lucius' eyebrow shot up in a disbelieving look. "Busy doing what? Staring at the same word on the same page in that book?"

Draco looked taken aback. "No, I–"

"I'm not blind, Draco. Other people are, but I can see through you. You sat here for ten minutes, and you didn't flip a page." He waved vaguely behind him. "St. Mungo's isn't far and she's your _mother_. You cannot drop by and say hello? You can't honestly think that for those few minutes you're gone, Bellatrix will swoop down here and kill everyone. Even if she did- there's about half a dozen of them, that's it. Aurors would appear. You're not making a difference either way."

Draco turned his head sharply to look into Lucius' eyes. They stared at each other for a while, Draco's stare bordering on murderous glare more than anything else.

"Thanks...Dad." Draco said bitterly. He finally looked away and pushed his chair out, to stand up.

"I'm simply telling you what you already know."

Draco shoved his book into his pocket and slowly lifted himself out of the chair. After pushing it back in, he looked down at his father with frown. "Even if you don't agree with my choice in occupations, it'd be nice if you just kept quiet and...I don't know, were somewhat supportive. I'm told that's what fathers tend to do. I'm not asking you to become my best friend, I just want you to acknowledge the fact that I make my own decisions and that they're mine to make."

"Very well. You may do as you wish, and you have my full support."

"Like that...?" Draco stared at Lucius incredulously.

"Well," Lucius began, "you said that is what you wish for." He also stood up and motioned for Draco to walk alongside him.

With a sigh, Draco obliged and they headed off towards, Draco knew, St. Mungo's. "It's not that simple! You're just trying to get me to stop talking!"

Lucius actually smiled at that. "Yes...that is correct. I don't appreciate you telling me that I am a bad fath–"

"– that isn't what I said– "

"– fine. An _unsupportive_ father. It simply isn't true, and you know that. I have always– "

" – that isn't what I– "

"For the sake of Slytherin, Draco, _stop interrupting me! _And stop sulking, boy."

"I'm not _sulking._"

"Then stop _brooding._ Whatever it is you wish to call that, discontinue doing it." Lucius growled. Since when had his son become so difficult?

"Yes, father," Draco mumbled, looking away at a store they had passed by.

"You haven't stopped. I can _hear_ the sulk."

Draco stopped abruptly and glared at Lucius with only an eighth of the contempt he actually felt, "Father, do you actually want something from me, or do you simply revel in making your son thoroughly annoying and only _then_ traipsing off for the next week or so?"

For a moment, Lucius seemed slightly taken aback. "Traipsing?"

"Yes! Traipsing! Wandering around without purpose!"

"I know what it means, although I deny ever traipsing anywhere."

"Is it not manly enough?"

"No, it's simply forbidden by _The Code._ You know that."

"Arguing about that ridiculous Code of Conduct, Lucius?" Bellatrix drawled from her place in the shadows of two buildings. She shifted slightly and her seemingly uninterested expression came into view. "You Malfoys and that book...I don't think it's healthy."

She pushed herself up off the wall and walked forward, with a smirk. She wandered around a very unamused pair of Malfoys and after giving Draco the smallest fraction of her attention, she turned to Lucius and leaned forward so she could be sure he would hear her. "It was quite a shock to see you on a side that wasn't ours, dearest brother-in-law."

"Bellatrix, do hurry up, say what you have to say, and leave so that we may all get on with our lives," he suggested in a tone that carried no threat, but could be easily seen as a light conversation tone about the weather and what new programs the WWN added to their line up.

Bella stepped back, "Are you really that quick to be rid of me?"

"You have no idea."

A man stepped out and Draco rolled his eyes at the cherry red hair that the man seemed to have a fetish with. It had been that color for as long as he could remember, although he was sure Narcissa had mentioned once or twice that it was not his natural color.

Rodolphus winked at the youngest Malfoy and took a spot next to his wife. "Lucius! Fantastic to see you again. Still intent on that blonde, I see."

"As are you with that horrid shade, Rodolphus," Lucius replied eyeing the other man's hair with distaste. "At least _mine_ is natural."

"Natural? You jest."

"Darling, do shut your mouth, won't you?" suggested Bellatrix, not sparing a glance at her husband and instead still concentrating on Lucius.

Draco had had enough. His aunt and uncle were here, but where were the other two Death Eaters? For all he knew, these two were being a distraction and half of Diagon Alley had already been blasted away. Not bothering to put more thought behind his actions, Draco grabbed his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at Bellatrix.

Rodolphus was quicker, though, and within a moment the blonde boy lay slumped and unconscious at the base of a building a few meters away from them.

The red haired man raised an eyebrow and turned back to Lucius, "Really, Malfoy, your son needs to work on his reflexes."

Lucius glanced at his son and nodded, "I agree. Silly boy. You'd think after so many years he'd learn."

"You'd think Lucius Malfoy's offspring wouldn't be such an idiot," Bella added before taking her own wand and moving in front of the boy. "Now, if something were to happen to dear little Draco, what exactly would happen to the Malfoy Empire? Would it crumble to the ground? Shall we see? Avada Ked–"

"Stupefy!"

"Crucio!"

"Protego! Stupefy!"

"Protego! Re–"

"Immobulus! Stupefy! Accio wands!"

"Malfoy!"

As Rodolphus fell to the ground with a thud, and his wand, along with Bella's and Draco's, flew into Lucius' hand, the blonde spun around to find a wand pointed directly into his face not two inches from his nose.

Lucius sneered at the wand's owner, "Young Mr. Weasley, get your wand out of my face."

Several cracks erupted from all around him as Aurors apparated to the scene. Harry Potter moved his friend's wand from in front of the blonde man's face and turned back around to yell out some commands to the others before turning back with a sigh.

"What happened?"

Lucius raised an eyebrow, "I was on my way to St. Mungo's and was attacked by Bellatrix and Rodolphus."

"Is that it?"

"Am I still talking?"

Harry shook his head and walked off towards the two unconscious Death Eaters muttering, "Malfoys..."

A few days later, Draco found himself on a bed in St. Mungo's with a pounding headache. The nurse had already come in, pushed a potion into his hand and walked out. Common sense told him to drink the potion, but he instead stared at it trying to remember what had happened. He didn't get very far in his thoughts when he suddenly heard that familiar voice of his father.

"You drink it."

Draco looks up, squinting slightly, "I know, Dad. I was just..."

"Admiring it's lovely shade of emerald green?" Lucius asked with a slight suggestion of a joke hidden in his voice.

With a withering glance in his father's direction, he downed the potion and was slightly surprised that it tasted rather minty.

"That was a stupid thing to do, jumping out and attacking Bellatrix like that."

"My patience had worn through."

"You'll need to work on that. How do you feel?"

"I'm fine, Dad," Draco replied, idly fixing his hair. "So we're finally at St. Mungo's, then?"

"Had I known that this was the only way to get you here..."

"Father...just don't."


End file.
